EURADA

Founded in 1992, the European Association of Economic Development Agencies gathers people working on economic development through a large network of 65 members throughout 20 countries in the European Union and beyond.

Regional development agencies are a designated meeting place between local actors. They gather highly skilled professionals and are able to answer the specific needs of firms willing to develop their activities. As major economic actors in their regions, RDAs’ missions consist of assembling, coordinating and promoting best practices and new initiatives.

The EURADA network connects its members with all kinds of economic development practitioners such as RDAs, business partners and European authorities.

We seek to:

  1. Encourage exchanges of experience between members and promote “best practice” in the field of local and regional economic development;
  2. Promote the recognition of the development agencies as specific mechanisms and economic development entities;
  3. Participate in the development and delivery of territorial development programmes and/or support programmes for companies especially for small and medium sized enterprises;
  4. Reinforce and better organise technical cooperation both with the European Commission and other Community institutions;
  5. Assist the development agencies newly set up in the non-European Union countries;
  6. Promote the emergence of cooperation projects between development agencies of several countries.

 

We do this through:

  1. The exchange of information on regional development strategies, the assistance to enterprises and the training of development agency executives;
  2. The analysis of Community Policy impact;
  3. The development of cooperation projects between different development agencies;
  4. The promotion of innovative and transferable techniques in the field of local and regional economic development;
  5. The dissemination of relevant information insofar as that concerns Community policies or new practices;
  6. A relevant forum open to new forms of knowledge exchange between development agencies;
  7. The management of co-operation projects co-financed by the European Commission;
  8. Reflections on new management methods for regional development or development agencies.